Light Our Way
by Fivellion
Summary: “The only one capable of such a wondrous spectacle is none other than our mother and origin of all that is, Amaterasu!” I briefly wondered if she was talking about me, then realized she must be. We were the only ones here, after all.
1. Alive

Light Our Way

Disclaimer: I do not own Okami, or any of its characters.

Chapter 1- Alive

It began with a prayer.

I couldn't actually hear it, mind you, I didn't have ears at the time. But I imagine it only took a few choice words and a touch of magic to pluck my soul from the endless void in which it had been dormant.

I felt the call- a tugging, a gentle but insistent pull, and I yielded before I even thought about what it meant. Before I thought at all.

But when I did think, the thoughts were jumbled and confused, the predominant one being: Who _am_ I? _What _am I, for that matter? I suddenly felt like I should know this. How long had I been here? Where _was_ here? What was this pull that had jolted me out of my peaceful slumber, that had forced me to scramble for memories I just didn't seem to have?

It was too late now, though. I had missed my chance to fight the call and let myself get swept away from the only place I knew . . . yet I knew nothing about it.

As shocking and terrifying as being thrust into the physical world was, I felt the fear subside as the essence of my soul settled into its new home. This felt right, natural, though I didn't know why.

Light, vibrant and sharp, hit my retinas and travelled to my brain, where it could be registered as a picture. I was looking down, seeing my new front legs. But they didn't seem so new. I felt a strong sense that they were mine, that they had always been mine, but no real memories came to mind. Experimentally, I shook myself, from my head all the way to my tail. I felt muscles tense obediently, felt the skin stretch and spring back into place like living elastic, felt the soft, fluffy undercoat beneath coarse exterior fur shift over my skin. Oh, how good it felt! Although my soul was now encased, I felt freer than ever before. I was alive. . . again?

I began to survey my surroundings. The air was still and dark. I was standing on a pedestal, about three feet off the ground. It was only after I jumped down and landed roughly on moist earth that I noticed the presence of another being.

"Ah! Such divine white light! Such beauty and grace!" I looked up into the face of a woman. She wore a pink and green kimono, had pale skin, long shiny black hair that hung about her like a wreath, and the face of a china doll. She stared down at me intently from where she floated several feet off the ground. It could only be her; there was no one else around capable of summoning me.

There were, however, a great deal of jagged rocks flying about, a howling wind, and some kind of undulating blackness battling for dominance with a crimson sky. It was rather frightening, actually, but there seemed to be a barrier of some sort protecting the clearing we were in, so I didn't worry myself about it.

The woman was speaking again. "The only one capable of such a wondrous spectacle is none other than our mother and origin of all that is, Amaterasu!" Oh, the drama. I briefly wondered if she was talking about me, then realized she must be. We were the only ones here, after all. "How delightful to see that the savior whose brave sacrifice sealed away that evil demon so many years ago has not changed one bit."

Evil demon? What? Huh?

"Seeing you emerge after so many years spent as a statue brings happiness to my heart." She sniffed. OK, now this was starting to get tedious. I curled up on the springy ground, head tucked under paw.

For several seconds she remained silent, and I wondered if I had offended her, but then, as I had hoped, she began to explain why it was that she had brought me here.

"Amaterasu . . . gaze above you and take in the condition of the sky." Her lilting voice was grave. "Since your departure from this earth, the world has succumbed to devious and vicious beasts." She gestured around her. "They have ravaged our fine and bountiful country of Nippon… But never have the circumstances been worse than they are at this very moment." It did look pretty bad. I wondered how anything could survive out there…

"Amaterasu," she said in beseeching tones, "please use your powers"-I pricked my ears here-"to banish the darkness and punish those who would do us harm."

I had no chance to object.

"Hm?" The woman wiggled. I cocked my head at her, finally showing some interest. She frowned in confusion, looking down at her clothes. "Eh? What is this? Has . . . has something stolen its way into my robe?" She squirmed and danced, all the while still managing to keep herself afloat- quite a feat. Not that, to my recollection, I have ever tried it myself.

I could tell she was holding back laughter for the sake of dignity. But whatever was so amusing got the better of her, and she soon burst into a fit of giggles, while at the same time blushing in embarrassment and trying madly to shake the invader loose from her garments. I watched in silence, head cocked to one side.

Abruptly, something tiny and black sprang out from the low neckline of the kimono with the velocity of an arrow from a crossbow. I leapt to my paws, hackles rising. The offending object fell to the ground in front of me, and I growled a long, low warning from the back of my throat.

"Phew." The woman composed herself. "What on earth?" She squinted her eyes and got a closer look. "You again?"

I jumped uneasily when it moved. Rolling to its feet, the thing began to hop up and down in place. It had a magic about it, a green aura. I continued to growl.

"Ow ow ow ow _ow_! Are you nuts?!" And it could talk. Great. "Boy, for a little thing, you sure make a big fuss! I was just tryin' to make the conversation a bit more interesting, that's all."

"Were you napping in my clothes again, bug?" snapped the woman.

"Bug?" The voice rose indignantly into a high-pitched squeal. "I told you a thousand times not to call me that! I'm a wandering artist. The name's Issun!" it raged. I bared my teeth at it, but it wasn't looking at me.

"I'll show you just how great I am, and it won't be long till you're bowing before my great brush!" Issun produced a scroll that was four times the length of his body and flung it in my direction. I flinched away, but it still landed open on my face.

It was an ink painting of a woman in elaborate attire, with a crescent moon behind her. The style was ancient, but beautiful in its antiquity. I realized the face was that of the woman before us, the woman who had just summoned me. But the body was comparatively more . . . how do I put this . . . curvy? Issun snatched the scroll away before I could shake it off into the dirt.

"Well, whaddya think? Even cuter than the real thing, no?" Issun proceeded to hop towards me, and when I jerked away, he only hopped closer until he landed on my nose and was looking down my snout, into my agitated eyes.

"What's with you, furball? You look kinda down in the dumps." He was close enough that I could just make out a tiny head under a hat fashioned out of what looked like the exoskeleton of a june bug, antennae and everything. "Actually . . ." he continued, "You look kinda familiar. . . I got it! You look just like that statue of Shiranui!"

I'm sure he would have chattered on, perfectly content there on my nose, but I was growing ever more impatient. Maybe it was because I had no idea what was going on here, or possibly because this woman expected me to perform some kind of miracle. Or maybe Issun was just looking rather tasty . . .

At any rate, I silenced him the fastest way I knew how. And it turns out Issun wasn't tasty. I spit him out, disgusted by the remnant tastes of ink, raw salmon, and plant fibers left on my tongue. He landed with a faint _plop._

"Blech!" I watched his aura turn red with anger. Whether it insulted him more that I'd tried to eat him or that I hadn't swallowed, I can't be sure. "Whaddya think you're _doin'_?!" I stared at his furiously bouncing form blankly. "Are you crazy?? A handsome guy like me should never be covered in wolf slobber! You'll regret messin' with the great Issun!"He stopped bouncing long enough to draw from his hip what appeared to be a toothpick.

"Don't make me use my prized sword, Denkomaru against you!"

It was in that moment that an earth-shattering roar distilled the air around us. I flattened my ears against my head. Issun, rattled, leapt up to plant himself on my nose again where, apparently, he felt safest.

"Wh-wh-what's that growling sound?" he cried. "And why's it so dark, anyway?"

The woman took this opportunity to call upon my assistance one last time. "O, great god Amaterasu . . ." a swirling light the color of rose petals began to gather around her, illuminating her sorrowful eyes. "I've used all the power I have to protect Kamiki Village. The village lives on. Their spirits lie encased in my fruit. Cut it free and the village will be reborn!"

The light left here and rushed past me. I turned in time to see it grow solid until it was a mighty tree, thick, sturdy, and bare. Except for a luscious pink peach hanging down from one of the taller branches. At the tree's roots was a glowing circular portal. It seemed to beckon me forward. I turned back to the woman, amazed and confused.

She nodded her head towards the portal. "I trust in you." she said. "I know that you will lead us down the right path." I wanted to ask her, '_How_ do you know? Who am I?' But I couldn't.

"Only your awesome power can restore light to the world." She was fading away now; dissipating, like a fog. In that moment, I wanted to be who she thought I was. But what if she had made a mistake? What if she had plucked out the wrong soul and put it in this majestic body? I was fairly certain that I wasn't a god. The only problem was, I didn't have any alternative identities to assume. Someone could just as easily have called me forth into the body of a milking cow or a crippled up old washer woman and I would have gone along with it. Still, I couldn't just sit here. Especially if I was the only hope for this Kamiki Village.

When the woman was gone, Issun piped up from atop my muzzle, "So the tree's returned to normal, huh? That Sakuya girl sure said some weird stuff. But, ya know, if you don't use some kind of special power there's no way you're gonna reach the fruit." It was true. I could never jump that high. And if I climbed, it would be too awkward a position to gnaw threw the stem.

"This darkness is really getting to me, too." He complained. "A lot can happen while you're taking a nap."

I walked over to the portal, glanced around, and sighed. Leap first, ask questions later, right?

Wrong. Never do that. It's stupid. But what did I really have to lose?

Nothing. No memories, no loved ones, very fuzzy sense of self.

So I leaped.


	2. Ink

Light Our Way

Chapter 2- Ink

Being transported by the portal was a strange sensation, yes. But a great deal more painless than I had expected. So there was a plus.

"Where are we?"

Then I discovered that Issun had managed to keep a grip on my fur strong enough that he wasn't blown back when I entered the portal. Not so much a plus.

Issun went on, "It got awfully quiet all of a sudden." It was evident from his tone that he was rather creeped out by this. I couldn't say I blamed him. The sky here (a nighttime sky, full of flickering stars) was so vast and cloudless that it seemed to engulf everything- including sound. "Don't remember any place like this in the village.

As I hesitantly began to walk forward, in the direction of a huge and intimidating crescent moon, Issun snorted.

"Boy, you really look so helpless. You sure you're gonna be OK?"

Ignoring him, I moved on, trying to behave a bit more . . . I don't know . . . decisively. I could see nothing in the distance, only sky and stars, which is probably what made this place seem so otherworldly.

I stopped at a place where a bridge should have crossed the gap between two islands. But the wooden planks just sort of stopped, like the bridge was unfinished. I whined in frustration.

"Looks like the bridge is out." Issun said needlessly."But it's no problem my trusty brush can't tackle!" He leapt up from his place on my head, landed once again on my muzzle, and flourished a little brush about the same size as Denkomaru.

"Um . . . Amaterasu, was it? That's kinda long. You mind if I call ya Ammy?" He continued without waiting for an answer. "A picture's worth a thousand words, right?" It was my turn to snort. What did he expect to accomplish with a tiny brush and some ink?

Then time stopped. Though nothing around us had actually been moving, I felt the change immediately, and knew I probably wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't included me in his magic. I watched Issun move his hand in a zig-zag motion, and something that suspiciously resembled ink was blotted across the gap where the bridge would have been. I watched in wonder as the bridge seemed to make itself whole. Issun lowered his brush.

Fascinated, and a little apprehensive, I crossed the remade bridge. It was real. Not an illusion, but a solid object, created from ink, painted on a canvas of time and space. Had Issun not included me in the spell, I would only have been witness to a bridge simply appearing out of nothing. One moment it was incomplete, and the next whole.

"Impressive, huh?" There was a smirk in Issun's voice. "Just a little technique I've mastered called Rejuvenation. It's one of the many brush techniques that use divine power." I walked along in the general direction of the moon while Issun talked.

"It's a brush god power that can restore missing things. I've practiced really hard just to learn this one technique, but there are 13! Each one is a power of the 13 brush gods. Originally, all 13 were a single deity. When the deity died, its power was split into 13 separate gods."

I nodded absently, only half listening. We were coming up on a place where, to the right, the ground sloped upward and ended in a sharp drop-off. To the left, land gave way to a sparkling blue substance that flowed like water but glittered like jewels. Beyond it was a wide empty space, too far to jump. A stone tablet stood half-way between the two dead ends. As I came close enough to make out the writing on the tablet, Issun read it aloud. 'River of the Heavens.'

"The River of the Heavens? They mean the fabled stardust river? But I sure don't see anything like that around here." Issun hopped over to survey the glittering substance. "It couldn't be that little puddle there, could it?"

I looked around, too. What had the woman, Sakuya, wanted me to find here, anyway? I took a right, up the sloping ground, until it leveled out, high above the alleged River of Heavens. My view was of very little land, and a whole lot of sky. Behind me, I could only see the places I had already been and the portal leading back to Sakuya's tree. Out in front was the puny stardust river, and farther on, a small isle of land on which stood another portal. If only the river were wider . . .

Issun interrupted my thoughts. "Wow! Look at the stars twinkle!" he said reverently. "I haven't seen such a beautiful nighttime sky in ages. Hey, look!" He yanked on one of my ears in an attempt to draw my focus away from the distant portal. "Are those stars forming a pattern, or is it just me?" I tossed my head gruffly. I didn't have time for this.

"Hmm . . ." Issun muttered as I began to walk away. "There's one missing . . . Guess I'll have to just have to draw the missing star."

Time stopped, and despite myself, I turned to watch the curious phenomena of divine power. The constellation was a string of stars depicting a dragon (though it also could have been a snake, but that seems much less impressive, don't you think?) and, indeed, the star where its head should be was missing. Issun carefully inked one small blot into the empty space. It looked about as close to a star as he could possibly make ink look.

But nothing happened.

After a pause, Issun spoke up. "Bah . . ." He was trying hard not to sound upset. "Looks like I'm just not ready to draw missing stars."

It was then that a strange thought came to mind. I sat down next to Issun and watched him try over and over again to replace the missing star. It occurred to me that he wasn't actually using his brush. Sure, he had it out and was moving it as if he was painting a picture, but it didn't even have any ink on it. It was probably there to help him concentrate. He was doing all the work in his mind. When he started to get frustrated, Issun began to mumble under his breath. He jabbed the brush forward and the ink blot was dabbed in just the right place, but when time resumed its normal course, it was gone. I remembered what Sakuya said about power. My power. She had called me a god, even! It was all a bit too much to swallow. But maybe…

I looked at the constellation and saw, in my mind's eye, an enormous brush, dripping with ink. I focused on it, tried to make it real. It wasn't real, of course. It was just a figment. The figment darted forward and smudged the sky. I blinked, and the ink fell away, leaving a pinpoint of light behind.

A star.

"Huh?!" Issun hopped about franticly, his voice getting even higher of pitch. "What the- I didn't do that!"

I was nearly as surprised as he was. I may have known nothing about myself, but I did know a thing or two about the average mortal. And the average mortal, be they human or wolf, didn't march around drawing stars in the sky.

"Oh great, what now?" Issun groaned, drawing my attention back to the constellation. Now that it was complete, the stars it consisted of seemed to be burning brighter. The outline of . . . something had appeared around them. I stood slowly, eyes wide, and watched color drain into the shape, creating the image of a dragon with scales of brilliant white running down the length of its long, slender body.

With a whip of its tail, the dragon freed itself from the string of stars. It twisted itself in the air, thrashing and falling, like it was trying to remember how to fly. I watched, spellbound. Its head then turned sharply in my direction, and I shivered when its crystalline eyes met mine. It plummeted towards my little lookout, pulling up just in time.

Issun jumped onto my head again and I sat down, ignoring the instinct to run. As it hovered before us, the creature was fierce, with its serpentine body and its four stumpy legs ending in jet black talons, but there was no aggression in its face. It had red markings similar to mine on its forehead and around its eyes. It opened its mouth and its teeth glinted.

"Ah . . . Why if it isn't Amaterasu." he stated in a deep, distinctly male voice. Once again, I felt that rush of déjà vu. "I apologize for not contacting you sooner during these long years. Having never forgotten you, I, Yomigami, god of restoration, have eagerly awaited this day when we could again meet."

I wished I could say the same.

"While you were away, the 13 spirits of the brush that you once possessed, including myself, have been scattered across this land of men and now lie in disarray." Wait a minute . . .

I wanted to slow him down, but all I could do was sit there and listen. Or bark at him.

"I became a constellation and managed to survive until now. The time has come for you to seek out and reunite all the techniques. Your power is what is needed to restore the dried riverbed of the River of Heavens and renew the flow of stardust."

I could tell that he was done speaking. I looked at him imploringly, but he didn't elaborate any further. He was going to leave me to figure it out. But instead of flying back up into the stars, or out over the horizon like I expected, his sleek body arched. Yomigami looked to be curling himself into a tight ball until he was nothing but an orb of light, with the symbol for rejuvenation printed on its face. Without pause, the orb flew to me, into me, right through my chest. It didn't hurt. It didn't actually feel like anything at all, but something inside me shifted, and in that moment I knew for certain that this body held power. Divine power.

The sky had returned to its normal, eerily quiet self. And Issun had found his voice again. "Wow! That was Yomigami, the god of rejuvenation!" Yes, that much I had gathered. I padded back down the slope, towards the River of the Heavens. I knew what I had to do now.

"Wait . . . so you have the power of rejuvenation now?! But that would as good with a brush as yours truly!" Issun sounded panicky. "Nah . . . it couldn't be. Who else could master this incredible god technique?"

I planted myself at the shore of the River of Heavens. Stardust lapped up against my paws, and it felt just like water. There was no riverbed to hold the stardust in, only open sky above and beneath. I concentrated on the far shore. It was almost too easy. The brush that didn't actually exist filled in the river like a crayon in a child's coloring book. The finished product wasn't perfect- far from it- but when I let go of the time stop, stardust was left behind.

"Whoa! A river of stardust!" Issun exclaimed. "So this _must_ be the River of Heavens. But what I want to knew is who the heck drew the darn thing!" Okay so, no, I didn't include Issun in the time stop. Maybe it was a little mean. Ah, well. Moving on.

I'm not the best swimmer, and I'll be the first one to admit that. At first, I wasn't even sure if I knew how to swim. I was just kind of hoping some instincts would kick in. But in the River of Heavens, I was practically a fish. Whichever way I turned, the stardust would help me along. It parted before me, and pushed me along from behind. It was effortless. But even as I felt confidence in my swimming abilities rise, I knew regular water would never be so cooperative.

I soon made it to the shore, shook myself off, and bounded for the portal. I must say, I was a little disappointed when I emerged from the portal and found that the sky was still giving me the impression that it had swallowed me, and the chunk of land I was standing on, whole. It was a little less unnerving here, though. There was a dirt path winding along on the ground, with tall, healthy oak trees on either side of it. I could hear rushing water farther ahead.

I followed the path at brisk trot (not that it was likely I was going to get lost. The only directions to go were forward or back the way I came. Because I wasn't about to jump off any cliffs). I crossed a wooden bridge, under which a river of real water flowed, fed by a small waterfall. The path ended at the foot of a long, wide stairway of stone. It led to what looked like the mouth of a cave.

I took to the steps two at a time, eager to know if whatever Sakuya wanted me to find was through that dark opening. The cave was huge, one enormous chamber, and in the center stood a stone statue that must have been at least 30 feet tall. Above was a hole in the high ceiling that let moonlight shine in on the statue.

"Is this . . ." Issun muttered. "Is this the legendary shrine? We must be in the Cave of Nagi!" Unlike Sakuya and Yomigami, Issun seemed to realize I had no idea what he was talking about. "The legendary hero Nagi is enshrined here," he clarified. "He vanquished evil 100 years ago with the help of the white wolf, Shiranui!

"First the River of Heavens, and now this place . . .Where the heck are we, furball?" He might as well have been asking Nagi's statue.

I wandered about the cave. It seemed to be empty but for the statue, Issun, and myself. What had I come here for, then?

"Boy, this place is a wreck." said Issun. "See? That sword's in really bad shape." I turned again to the stone figure of Nagi. He looked very heroic, with his left hand on his hip, and his right thrusting a sword dramatically towards the heavens. Of course, the effect was rather damaged due to the fact that more than half of his weapon was missing. It had probably crumbled away with age. A shame, but nothing to do with me.

"Hey Ammy, doesn't Nagi's broken sword bug you?" I could think of one thing that was beginning to bug me . . . "I mean, there must something we can do . . ."

After another go around the cave, I gave in. If there was nothing else to be accomplished here, it wouldn't hurt to fix the statue. I positioned myself in just the right spot, then mended the broken sword, this time, letting Issun be witness.

"That really WAS your brushwork all this time!" I growled as, in his overexcitement, Issun punched the air and accidently hit me in the head. "How'd you get so good? Exactly who are you, anyway?" His question hung in the air between us. I could feel him staring at me. It was making me uncomfortable.

Issun's gasp broke the awkward silence. He was staring up through the hole in the cavernous ceiling. "Look, Ammy! Another constellation! This one looks like . . ." He trailed off thoughtfully. There were only five stars, but the constellation looked like it could be a small four-legged animal. It, too, seemed to be missing something.

Issun didn't bother to lift a finger this time. He watched quietly, perhaps enviously, as I dotted a star where the small animal's head should be. The constellation became a white mouse, with a tail twice as long as its body wrapped around the hilt of an iron sword. It took the sword into its mouth and sliced the air with three big, fluent movements. It then tried to raise the sword above its head and off balance. The mouse stumbled and fell toward earth with much less grace than I'm sure it would have liked. As it descended, its swirling red markings glistened in the moonlight. I backed away to give it some room, while the brush god managed to slow its fall and stop several feet above my level. Its sword swung gently from its little front paws.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't mother Amaterasu." I cocked my head at the god's amused tone. "It's been a long time. But with all these monsters around, the only place I could hide was in this shrine dedicated to ancient heroes. If there is anything I can do to assist you in your endeavors, I'm at your service."

I hesitated, then barked appreciatively. The mouse's beady black eyes brightened. It was smiling. The brush god heaved its sword above its head and spoke, its squeaky voice straining. "Make good use of this sword, as it is designed to conquer evil." This god, as Yomigami did, dissolved into an orb and flew into me, making me one brush technique stronger.

"That was the god Tachigami, master of the power slash technique." Issun said tonelessly. I pricked my ears expectantly, but the cave remained silent. That was it? After another moment or two, I shrugged and stood. Mood lifting, I made for the exit.

"Wait a minute!" Issun's shout startled me. I huffed irritably in response. "If you're getting' all these powers, then you're just like Shiranui! You, know, the wolf who fought and died alongside Nagi! When Shiranui died, the wolf's power was split into 13 brush gods. This is crazy! Shiranui and Nagi . . . ? It's just like the legend!" He paused.

". . . Well, anyway, I've never seen this power slash technique myself. How 'bout showing off your stuff on that boulder over there?" Issun directed my gaze to a large, very solid-looking boulder leaning against the wall of the cave. "Lemme see you slice it in half!" Issun challenged excitedly. "I won't believe it till I see it!"

I humored him and concentrated on the boulder, and my 'inner brush.' I guided the brush to make a strait, horizontal line, quick and decisive, like the swing of Tachigami's sword. Next moment, the top half of the boulder slid cleanly from its lower counterpart.

"Wow!" Issun bounced up and down on my head like a hyper five-year-old. "I didn't know you had it in ya, furball! I'm not even in the same league as you! Guess I really overestimated myself, huh?" After some hesitation, he went on, "Hey, furball, er . . . I mean Amaterasu . . . I've made up my mind! If you're Shiranui reborn, that means you can master all 13 techniques, right?" he asked, as if I could answer.

"In that case, I think I'll tag along until I'm as good as you! Lucky you!"

Yes, Issun, lucky, lucky me. I expressed my displeasure by whining and attempting fruitlessly to throw him off. "Heh heh . . . No use tryin' to change my mind. There's no stopping me once I've made a decision!" he said brightly. "Now that you've mastered the power slash, you can cut down that thing Sakuya was talking about. Let's go back and give it a shot!"

Oh, yes, the fruit . . .

I still failed to see how any of this, be it saving the village, or collecting these techniques, hd become my responsibility. Just because they told me it was? Or because no one else could? If I was Shuranui reborn, as Issun now believed, then it was possible that a lot if innocent depended on me. But then, where had my memories gone? After I freed the Kimiki villagers, was that the end of my task? Would I be released back into that mindless, thoughtless place where I needed no memories, no sense of self? Or was this just the beginning?


	3. Kamiki Village

Light Our Way

Chapter 3- Kamiki Village

I raced back to the tree, an unexpected urgency bubbling up in my chest. It had hit me shortly after exiting the cave: What if I hadn't been fast enough?

I bounded along, kicking up dirt in my wake. Issun rode quietly, keeping a firm grip on my right ear.

When I emerged on the other side of the portal, everything was as I left it. I wasted no time, turning to the peach high above, and power slashing its bulging flesh. A flashing light blinded me for a second, and I nearly missed the rainbow of vegetation that exploded outward in a rippling wave from Sakuya's tree. I felt my heart leap with joy as the wave washed over me. It felt like everything that was ever clean and good. Rather than slowing down, the wave only seemed to gather speed as it continued, leaving behind rich soil and lush green grass and a wide array of wild flowers. In the distance, I could see trees erupting from the ground like geysers.

When the charge in the air finally settled, a stillness set in around Issun and me. I wanted to believe that Sakuya's problem was solved, but there was still something wrong. I couldn't ignore it. The sky had lost its blood-red color and was now an empty black, casting an unnatural green light on the entire landscape.

"Wow! The village's been restored!" exclaimed Issun. "Sakuya came through big time! She really was protecting the village! But I sure wish I coulda spent more time in her kimono, if ya know what I mean!" I rolled my eyes in distaste and imagined how aggravating this could get if Issun stuck around until he had learned all 13 techniques, like he intended. Issun laughed freely as I followed the dirt road leading away from Sakuya's tree.

Shortly, I came to a fork in the road. To my left, stone steps sloped upward, downward to my right, both roads curling against a high stone wall.

I took off to the right, running in long, loping strides. I passed withered, dying trees, each one with a white ribbon tied around its trunk, signifying that it was honored as a god. When I arrived at the small cluster of houses that made up Kamiki Village, I skidded to a halt. It was far too quiet. I sensed no movement in the air.

"What in the world?" Issun hopped over to the side of a figure in shadow. "I don't remember a statue being here . . ." I crept toward Issun cautiously. The statue in question was of a portly woman in simple garb. It was incredibly detailed and realistic. She looked like a farmer, which was the only reason I could think of why someone would place her right in the middle of a vegetable field.

". . . Well, whatever." Issun shrugged it off. "Let's go talk to the villagers!"

I was getting a very bad feeling. I counted only three houses and one broken-down water wheel, all of which looked empty. The place felt cold and abandoned, and that sickly green light wasn't making anything cheerier. Only a few feet away from the farmer woman, I spotted another strangely real statue, this time depicting a child, his hands folded behind his head, holding onto a length of string with a motionless dragonfly attached to the end of it. "Hey, there's one here, too . . ." muttered a confused Issun. "It's like all the villagers turned to stone or something . . ."

Another beastly roar, louder this time, reached Issun and me from somewhere not very far off. I jumped in surprise, but what really got my fur on end was the way the vibrations echoed against the many rock inclines enclosing Kamiki Village. They prevented me from judging which direction the sound was coming from. "Not again?! That's not one of the smaller monsters lurking around. A sound like that's gotta come from something a lot bigger!" Issun said shakily. "Let's hurry up and find someone with a pulse!"

I agreed without a sound and stalked away to search the area around the deserted-looking homes, my mind whirling in futile circles. It could only have been a few hours ago that Sakuya called me into the body of a white wolf. I was learning fast, but not fast enough. I know nothing of black magic, of curses or how to break them. It was frustrating to think that I may already have the ability to help this village, and just didn't remember how, and searching the vague corners of my existing memory was proving useless.

In between a small home and the decrepit water wheel, on the banks of a sluggish river, was small rice pond. A slurry of water, rich mud, and tiny pebbles squished under my paws as I approached the third statue I'd encountered that day. She was half bent over, one arm outstretched, frozen in the act of harvesting rice. "No good" Issun said disparagingly. "This one's not movin'. Everyone was just fine a few hours ago! There's definitely somethin' strange goin' on here. The village is back, but what's up with this dark sky? Maybe it's dark outside the village too? Let's find some high ground and take a look."

What else was there to do? I retraced my steps, headed back toward Sakuya's tree. I reached the fork in the road and followed the route that sloped upward, until the finally leveled out. A short boardwalk leading to a round wooden platform jutted over the edge of a cliff near me. Passing a pit in the ground that looked like it might have once been a pond, I walked onto the platform and gazed into the far distance.

"This is bad . . ." Issun jumped onto the safety railing built around the platform. "The sun's not even shining. It's as black as night as far as the eye can see. And not a single villager can move a muscle . . . Is it some kind of curse? It's not going to stay like this forever, is it? If only the sun were out to light our way . . .

"Hmm . . . come to think of it, your name is Amaterasu." I pricked my ears at Issun. "That's the name of the sun god! So it'd follow that you had that technique from the start! If you could draw a circle in the sky, we'd have ourselves a sun! But . . . I guess that'd be impossible, even for a god like you."

I looked away, into the black abyss above us. I had a feeling this was what Sakuya really called me here to do. The thing I could accomplish the no one else could. The brush came into the view of my mind's eye again. It followed a slow, circular motion, and left an imperfect circle behind. Issun, paying very close attention, held his breath apprehensively.

It worked. Light and color burst forth from my ink circle. I had expected to be relieved, should it work, but I didn't expect the rush of emotion that came the instant the warmth touched my fur. I had known this once. I may have forgotten myself, but how could I forget this . . . being surrounded by _life_, everywhere, under my paws, in the air, all of it shining in golden sunlight. I felt suddenly like I was finally recognizing someone, an old friend. I was being welcomed back, embraced in warm, life-giving arms. And it had been so long.


	4. Praise

Light Our Way

Chapter 4 – Praise

"Wh-wh-what the?!" Issun spluttered as he stared up at the sun (not very good for your eyes, by the way. I don't recommend it) in disbelief. For a moment, he was lost for words. "Wow! You're no run-of-the-mill god, that's for sure!" he finally said, breathlessly.

"_The flowing brush is like music from the heavens. . ."_ Issun recited. "That's a line from one of my grandfather's poems. He felt a skilled artist was like a musician of shape and color. Since you're such a great artist, why don't we name your brushwork after that poem of his? It's called Celestial Brush! After all, your brush did bring back the sun!

"Well, Ammy, let's get back to the village!" Issun jumped up to settle himself between my ears. "We gotta see if the villagers are back to normal now." I barked cheerfully and turned, prepared to properly celebrate the sunlight's triumphant return with a good frolic, but had to stop short. An old man was blocking my path.

"Hm? Who are you?" wheezed the old man. He was all bent over, leaning heavily on a short wooden cane. A ripe round orange was balanced atop his shiny crown. He tossed his head, flinging the orange into the air, and let it fall again.

"A white wolf? Not the one who fought that terrible creature with Nagi!? You couldn't possibly be the legendary Shirinui! No, it can't be. . ." I stared at him blithely. "That story is one hundred years old. Still, you look a lot like the statue of Shirinui." This really didn't seem to be going anywhere. I yawned and let my eyes wander to the cliff face over the man's shoulder. "On the other hand, you don't look quite as smart. . ."

I stiffened abruptly, dropped low to the ground and snarled, winding my tail like a cork screw. My eyes were trained on two dark figures standing upright, slightly hunched, watching silently from the rocks high above us. How long had they been there?

"Wh-wh-whoa! No need to growl like that!" The old man flinched away, holding up his cane in defense, and aiming a couple of hasty jabs with bony fists at the air between us. "Can you really understand what I'm saying? Well. I'm not one to mince words. I state facts." He said boldly, adding a kick to the pathetic display of kung fu. How annoying. I was distracted by a sharp drop in temperature of the air around us.

"Hm? What's this sudden chill down my spine?" The man questioned. A frosty wind blew the scent of something unmistakably rank to my nose. I sneezed and crouched lower.

"Here they come, furball. . ." Issun said when the figures crouched and lunged. At the same time I spotted the third, who sprang up from behind. There were three of them- imps; monkey-like creatures with paper hand-drawn masks worn over their faces. I had seen some before, fought them, but I'd no idea where. These particular ones carried reed flutes.

"Those are the monsters that have been plaguing these lands. They sneak into villages and cause all sorts of trouble!" said Issun fiercely as he strode out to stand on my muzzle. "Step aside, furball! This is a job for my trusty sword, Denkomaru!"

The imps had assembled behind the old man, who, apparently, could not see them. He was gazing around, scratching his head in bewilderment. The imps leapt, and I leapt too. I clamped my jaws around the scruff of the old man's shirt and swung him like a rag doll, catching all three imps mid-flight and knocking them back where there was more room to maneuver. Without thinking, I let go of my makeshift weapon, and poor Mr. Orange-Man was propelled over the safety railing. No time to go after him. I launched myself at the imps, and got some use out of the divine instrument Sakuya had bestowed upon my back. They stood no chance. The instrument caught them by surprise, and all three were taken down with a single power slash.

When the threat had been removed, the dirt pit I had noticed earlier suddenly filled with clear water, it's surface reflecting the blue of the sky.

"Wow! You really get aggressive when you're mad, don't ya?" cried Issun, who had been tossed out of the way at the start of the fight. In that moment, little balls of yellow light rose from the surface of the restored pond. Pulsating with life of their own, they flew into me. I felt newly, not powerful, like the techniques had been, but lighter somehow, and prouder. Like I had accomplished something worthwhile.

"Hey, you got yourself some praise." Issun said approvingly. "And look! See how that dried up spring began flowing again? That's because ridding an area of monsters restores the gods' power to the land. People call it divine intervention. The more you restore the land to its natural beauty, the more praise you get. It's the source of your power." Strange. I didn't really feel more powerful, but it did cheer me up a bit. "Few people believe in gods these days, and that may weaken you, but if you try real hard, your true power might just shine through!" said Issun.

"But boy, there's sure been a lotta monsters around lately. And that Mr. Orange you tossed around on the sacred deck. . ." His name was actually Mr. Orange?? "Looks like he thinks you're a regular wolf. Seems the gods have grown so weak people can't see them anymore." Issun grumbled something under his breath and I cocked my head. He looked up at me and jumped.

"Oh, uh. . ." He leapt onto my head where I couldn't scrutinize him. "Anyway, I'll show you around the village. I have a feeling we're in for an epic adventure! This should be fun, furball!" Issun sang. And, for a strange, uncharacteristic moment, possibly brought on by the confidence-boosting praise, I agreed with him.


End file.
